I was hanging out with a friend last night who is a retired porn actress. She has the idea of making like porn(y)-music videos. She made a comment about a song Im producing though, that made me wonder about this topic.
Right now Im writing, producing & singing my own stuff, and have been getting better at it for years. But a recurring feeling I get is that my work overall emanates positive energy, and I find that to some people, motivational lyrics and major chords, come off as cheesy, or churchy, or fake, you name it.
This friend of mine is the type of person that can't say two sentences without using the words "bitch", "ass" or "f**k" in them, (she's also bossy and doesn't care about pleasing others) and I understand she's perhaps not my target audience. But at least she's actually honest in her remarks, and I'm adult enough to appreciate feedback without taking things personally.
This made me wonder how other people feel about the topic. Darker music comes off as wise because it represents suffering, but i actually hear even more bullshit coming from dramatic, angry-bitch hip-hop than from the average radio-hit dance pop song.
And if we're all gonna bullshit in the end, (because we want to sell) why not do so happily instead? Part of why I try to write positive-motivational lyrics is I feel the world is too angry/depressed/fearful/hurt/
all thoughts welcome
Happy/positive vs Dark/aggresive music...
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- KVRAF
- 8082 posts since 9 Jan, 2003 from Saint Louis MO
If you like what you do, keep doing it. Some people won't like it, and some people will, and that's true no matter what you do. 
There's a lot more to it than a simple duality though. I like some ridiculously happy, cheerful, silly, absurd music and I am annoyed almost to the point of a physical itch at some other happy pop stuff. I like some dark, cold, creepy music but there's some angry, hateful stuff that I just can't with anymore -- with some of it I appreciate the sound but the lyrics drive me away.
Darkness isn't always... the stuff Yoda warned about
The night sky is dark (or should be anyway). Outer space is dark, and "inner space" too. Woods, caves, are dark. A peaceful street at night is dark. A quiet room that one sleeps in, safe and comfortable, is dark. The most intense, complex chocolate is dark.
"Aggressive" music can simply be vigorous and exciting, not necessarily hostile. I played in a taiko drumming group for a while -- it's all hitting big chunks of horse or cow hide very hard with huge wooden sticks and yelling at the top of one's lungs, but it isn't done in anger or to express negative emotions; it's a lot of fun and makes people smile.
On the other hand, there is a lot of injustice and pain in the world and these things piss me off. Sometimes it feels better to complain about it in a musical way. Or to get apathetic people fired up to take appropriate action.
When I make music (none of it with lyrics for what that's worth), I tend to just let it flow and whatever comes out is at least partially a reflection of what I'm feeling at the time. Thankfully making music makes me feel good. I don't know what would happen if I could make music during peak crankiness (which is usually on the drive to work) or in the depths of other negative emotions -- usually I don't feel like creating things in those sorts of moods, though I might just play music without recording to calm myself. I've never specifically set out to write either a sad song or a happy song; a few times I have gone for some other emotions but mostly I just let things come out as they do. And it tends to be dark, and most of it has rough edges and some intentional mystery.
Also for what it's worth, I don't really care about trying to sell my music. I tried it once and found it's too unrelated to making music for my tastes. I make music because I love the process and enjoy listening to it later (well, most of it anyway). I don't want to make a living in music, I want a life of luxury or at least a universal basic income, making music I don't have to sell
There's a lot more to it than a simple duality though. I like some ridiculously happy, cheerful, silly, absurd music and I am annoyed almost to the point of a physical itch at some other happy pop stuff. I like some dark, cold, creepy music but there's some angry, hateful stuff that I just can't with anymore -- with some of it I appreciate the sound but the lyrics drive me away.
Darkness isn't always... the stuff Yoda warned about
The night sky is dark (or should be anyway). Outer space is dark, and "inner space" too. Woods, caves, are dark. A peaceful street at night is dark. A quiet room that one sleeps in, safe and comfortable, is dark. The most intense, complex chocolate is dark."Aggressive" music can simply be vigorous and exciting, not necessarily hostile. I played in a taiko drumming group for a while -- it's all hitting big chunks of horse or cow hide very hard with huge wooden sticks and yelling at the top of one's lungs, but it isn't done in anger or to express negative emotions; it's a lot of fun and makes people smile.
On the other hand, there is a lot of injustice and pain in the world and these things piss me off. Sometimes it feels better to complain about it in a musical way. Or to get apathetic people fired up to take appropriate action.
When I make music (none of it with lyrics for what that's worth), I tend to just let it flow and whatever comes out is at least partially a reflection of what I'm feeling at the time. Thankfully making music makes me feel good. I don't know what would happen if I could make music during peak crankiness (which is usually on the drive to work) or in the depths of other negative emotions -- usually I don't feel like creating things in those sorts of moods, though I might just play music without recording to calm myself. I've never specifically set out to write either a sad song or a happy song; a few times I have gone for some other emotions but mostly I just let things come out as they do. And it tends to be dark, and most of it has rough edges and some intentional mystery.
Also for what it's worth, I don't really care about trying to sell my music. I tried it once and found it's too unrelated to making music for my tastes. I make music because I love the process and enjoy listening to it later (well, most of it anyway). I don't want to make a living in music, I want a life of luxury or at least a universal basic income, making music I don't have to sell
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- KVRAF
- 5664 posts since 7 Feb, 2013
Things are not black and white like that, there are much more colours of music than "happy/positive" and "dark/agressive". It can be mysterious or melancholic but not especially dark, or euphoric and uplifting but not exactly "happy/positive". Speaking for myself, I don't like most of "happy" music, especially in major keys - not that I think it is cheesy or lame but it just does nothing for me, often to the point when I find it just annoying. But well, we all are different, if you like what you are doing then carry on, a retired porn actress may be qualified in other things but her opinion on music not necessarily matters a lot
You may think you can fly ... but you better not try
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- KVRian
- 719 posts since 17 Aug, 2015 from Finland
This actually provided me with some serious food for thought. You overlooked one aspect, though: the juxtaposition of positive lyrics and downbeat music, or vice versa. It's something I do in my own music, and I think it's an interesting effect from a purely musical/lyrical perspective.
My solo projects:
Hekkräiser (experimental) | MFG38 (electronic/soundtrack) | The Santtu Pesonen Project (metal/prog)
Hekkräiser (experimental) | MFG38 (electronic/soundtrack) | The Santtu Pesonen Project (metal/prog)
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- KVRAF
- 4589 posts since 7 Jun, 2012 from Warsaw
No idea about lyrics, but I often switch between dark and happy melodies for dramatic effect and emotional interest. It is very common for trance to have minor buildup and major breakdown. There are also progressive or psychadelic rhytms which do not belong to either category. Maybe you should search in this direction?
Contrast is always good in music, so try emotional contrast,
I also don't find dark sound aggressive or vice-versa, these are totally different concepts. Aggressive is more like opposite to "progressive".
Contrast is always good in music, so try emotional contrast,
I also don't find dark sound aggressive or vice-versa, these are totally different concepts. Aggressive is more like opposite to "progressive".
Blog ------------- YouTube channel
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
Tricky-Loops wrote: (...)someone like Armin van Buuren who claims to make a track in half an hour and all his songs sound somewhat boring(...)
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- Banned
- 5357 posts since 7 May, 2015
Well, I don't know that darker is more popular. Seems that all this "oooh oooh ooh, party party" stuff is doing fine.muausucua wrote:I was hanging out with a friend last night who is a retired porn actress. She has the idea of making like porn(y)-music videos. She made a comment about a song Im producing though, that made me wonder about this topic.
Right now Im writing, producing & singing my own stuff, and have been getting better at it for years. But a recurring feeling I get is that my work overall emanates positive energy, and I find that to some people, motivational lyrics and major chords, come off as cheesy, or churchy, or fake, you name it.
This friend of mine is the type of person that can't say two sentences without using the words "bitch", "ass" or "f**k" in them, (she's also bossy and doesn't care about pleasing others) and I understand she's perhaps not my target audience. But at least she's actually honest in her remarks, and I'm adult enough to appreciate feedback without taking things personally.
This made me wonder how other people feel about the topic. Darker music comes off as wise because it represents suffering, but i actually hear even more bullshit coming from dramatic, angry-bitch hip-hop than from the average radio-hit dance pop song.
And if we're all gonna bullshit in the end, (because we want to sell) why not do so happily instead? Part of why I try to write positive-motivational lyrics is I feel the world is too angry/depressed/fearful/hurt/
all thoughts welcome
Frankly, I don't think I'd hang with an ex porn chick, especially one that doesn't like to please people
